Method and apparatus for treating sheet material



March 4, 1958 J. G. EVANS ET.AL

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING SHEET MATERIAL Filed June 17, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventors, GE RGE New; J

B a 4 MM Wm March 4; 1958 S. ETAL 2 ,825 1i "7 METHOD AND APPARATUS TREATING SHEET MATERIAL Filed June 17,- 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Attorneys March 4, 1958 J. G. EVANS ETAL 2,825,117

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING SHEET MATERIAL Filed June 17. 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventors A itorneya March 4, 1958 J. G. EVANS ET AL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING SHEET MATERIAL 4 SheetsShee' t 4 Filed June 17, 1953 Jar/u cwwmvr-mfis, 65mm" #3 32713. w/u/m JOSE!!! momawgwm I/mm Mam W, M M I Attorneyf n d S tes Patent" METHOD AND APPARATUS FoR TREATING SHEET MATERIAL land Application Julie 17, 1953, Serial'No; 362,328 Claims priority; application Great Britain June 20, 1952 23 Claims. (Cl. 26 -69)" This invention relates to the or narrier'iting of deformable materials, which do not possess the power of complete elastic recovery, and which aresinsheet form such as fabrics, films, foils" or the like. Such materials include woven or knitted textile fabrics, paper, leather, parchment, regeneratedcellulose, metal or synthetic resins, and coated textiles such as book cloth; imitation leather cloth and the like. By the termorna'menting we mean herein and in the appended claims altering the shape and appearance of the material by the formation of decorative configurations such as seersucker effects, ribs, projections, ripples, indentations, or like variations of shape, or producing decorative surface effects without appreciable change in the shape."

It is an object of the invention toprovide ornamented materials and novelmethods of and apparatus for producing ornamentation of materials mechanically.

Our invention relates to the production of ornamentation by producing decorative configurations in localized regions departing from the normal plane of the material by compressively shrinking adjoining regions while allowing the material in localized regions to niove freely.

Our invention will be explained and described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings, in which: 7

Figure 1' is a fragmentary diagrammatic end elevation,

partly in section, showing one compressive shrinking machine;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of part of the machine shown in Figure 1 and is partly in section on the line 2-2 in Figure 1;-

Figure 3 shows afabric ornamented by shown in Figures 1 and 2; I

Figure 4 is a perspective view of part of a rubber belt having a discontinuous surface; 7

Figure shows the effect produced on a textile fabric by the machine use of the belt shown in Figure 4;

' V belts;

Figure 11 is a diagrammatic side view of part of another compressive shrinking machine;

Figure 12 illustrates diagrammatically a compressive shrinking machine similar tothat in Figure l in which the discontinuous surface is presented by a stencil interposed between the fabric and the belt of the machine;

' Figure l3 is a diagram similar to that of Figure 11, but

showing the stencil'interpos'ed between the fabric and the roller;

Figure 14 is adiagrammatic view of a discontinuous apparatus for shrinking material; and Figure 15' isa diagram illustrating a complete ornamentation and fixing process" in accordance with the invention. In" accordancewith theinvention, one or more localised regions of the material is' or are compressively shrunk by pressure applied"simultaneouslyboth parallel and normal to the" surface; while allowing relative freedom" of movementtb'the'material" to ruflle, ripple, or pucker in one or" more other're'gions adjoining thelocalised. regions being shrunk,.sb as to produce a seersucker or otheretfec t. Compressive" shrinking is" a well known', process which is generally etfectedby pressing the material being shrunk against the surfaeeof adeformableflexiblemember, and subsequently causing that surface to contract whilst the member is pressed againstv it. The material is thereby caused to contract with the surface of the flexible membet, The material-is released from the flexible surface whilst the latter is still contracted. In continuous machines: for treating. lengths of material the pressureis commonly applied through a roller, plate or shoe, the flexible member beingconstituted by a rubber or like travelling belt or roller- In discontinuous apparatus the pressure may be applied through a head, the material being forced against a base plate having a flexible surface of rubber orv the like which is. caused to contract and carry the: material with it.

I-nallthe known compressive shrinking apparatus, care is takento exert uniform pressure: over the whole of the materialbeing. treated, sothat uniform overall shrinkage of the. material results.

In the present invention, the two pressures are exerted over one or more localised regions of. the material only, and the material is compressively shrunk and has a smooth fiat surface in those regions. Where the pressures arenot exerted the material is caused to form local puckers-or ribs, giving seer-sucker or other effects, since the adjoining regions have contracted. g

The ornamentation produced when material is shrunk. by the present'invention can be controlled'to give a-wide range of puckering; effects since these clearly depend! on the degree of shrinkage produced in the unpuckered regions, thus the ornamentation may vary from a slight puckering effectwith a mere suggestion of blistering to very' gross puckering with very striking seersucker or similar effects. The range of such effects is much greater than that which can be obtained by methods which depend on' chemical treatment or weavingv alterations. In a like manner the size and height of ribbed effects can be varied over a wide range. It is, of course, known to pr'oduceribs by standard embossing methods, but the ribs ofour invention are quite different in appearance, having no added lustre or glaze marks such as is cornmon'in the standard embossed results of the prior art.

Although discontinuous or batch-working shrinking apparatus may be used,=it is preferred to pass the-material through a continuo'uslyacting shrinking apparatus serving to shrink the material'longitudinally in localisedireg'ions.

The known shrinking: apparatus may be modifiedv in Various ways to enable them to be used in the present invention; Thus Figures 1 and 2 show a compressive shrinking machine of the roller-and belt type suitable for ornamenting a c'o'ntinuous fabric 30. The fabric moves in contact with the outer surface of a belt 31 resembling the belt 11, which travels around two rollers 32 and 33. Archer 34 is heated-by steam from a source 35 and is adjusted in a vertical direction so as to make part of'the path of the belt 31 concave and to press the fabric 30 against the'belt 31. The belt 31 carries a design it} that it is longitudinally grooved, and the roller 34 has a smooth metal surface. The fabric is fed on to the belt 31 bearing the design whilst the surface of the belt is in an expanded state because the belt is in engagement with the roller 32 and therefore is convex. The fabric is held against the belt as the surface contracts by its engagement with the roller 34 and consequently changes to concave shape. Those regions of the fabric 30 in contact with the design are caused to contract by compression whereas those regions of the fabric not in contact with the metal surface do not contract. Regions of differential contraction are therefore set up in the fabric, the contracted regions being compressively shrunk to a smooth and fiat state and the uncontracted regions puckered or blistered since they have not been shrunk.

vary with the nature of the fabric.

Example I In the apparatus shown in Figures l and 2 the belt 31 was a moulded endless rubber belt supported upon a canvas foundation. It bore a design consisting of parallel ribs 0.12 inch wide spaced 0.3 inch apart and 0.04 inch deep running along the length of the belt and parallel to the direction of rotation. The belt was 0.3 inch thick and was made of natural vulcanised rubber of 55 Shore hardness. The metal roller 34 was maintained at 300 F. The moisture content of a plain weave fabric of viscose rayon staple fibre was adjusted to 12%, and the fabric was then passed through the nip of the machine. The fabric was thereby caused to contract in those regions where the rubber design pressed the fabric into contact with the roller. That part of the fabric not pressed against the roller puckered, and a scersucker effect was obtained on the fabric, ass shown in Figure 3.

A mercerised cotton poplin and a knitted acetate rayon fabric can be treated in the same way. Likewise many nontextile materials can be so treated with equally novel results, e. g. sheets of regenerated cellulose sold under the name cellophane," paper, parchment, metal foil, polyethylene film, polystyrene film, leather cloth, book cloth and leather.

The ornamentation is determined by the design on the belt 31. Puckers or ruflles of different kinds are obtained by varying the width of the grooves in the belt. The design may be of a discontinuous nature, and indeed of any kind which renders the surface of the belt discontinuous. For instance, the belt may be made with annular depressions 38 as shown in Figure 4, and the effect then produced on a textile fabric is shown in Figure 5. As will be seen, the greater part of the fabric is shrunk and smooth, as shown at 39, and there are annular puckered regions shown at 40. The, depressions may be slots extending right through the belt, in which case they can be formed by stamping or punching instead of being moulded on or cut in the belt. Figure 6 shows a ribbed belt with holes. 41 of various diameters punched in it. A textile fabric treated with the use of this belt is shown in Figure 7. Puckers 42 are formed in those regions of the fabric which lie opposite the holes and longitudinal puckers 43 are formed between the narrow strips shrunk by engagement with the tops of the ribs.

Grooves may extend transversely wholly or partly across the belt as shown at 44 in Figure 8, and the result is to produce highly decorative discontinuous transverse ribs in a textile fabric as shown in Figure 9, giving what is called a slub effect.

It is possible to build up a belt having a discontinuous surface from a number of resilient elements. The elementsmay run around plain rollers and be spaced apart from one another, for instance by other belts of different radial thickness. Alternatively, the rollers may be grooved or carry rings to keep the elements correctly spaced apart.

A very convenient form of building up a belt having a discontinuous surface is to use V-belts, which may be arranged to run around plain or grooved rollers. Figure 10 shows V-belts 45 arranged to run round rollers, one of which is. shown at 46, with the longer parallel sides 47 of the belts inwards and their shorter parallel sides 48 forming the discontinuous surface or design.

Another known form of shrinking machine includes a pressure plate, in place of a roller, for cooperation with a resilient belt. By employing a grooved belt or one hearing some other desigmthis form of machine may be adapted to operate according to our invention. Figure 11 illustrates this. The pressure is applied to a fabric through a plate 81 by means of a pressure screw 82, the plate being concave to match the curvature of a resilient belt 83 as it passes round a roller 84. The belt is grooved longitudinally, the bases of the grooves being indicated by the dotted line 85. The plate 81 is heated, e. g. by steam flowing through connections indicated at 86.

The discontinuous surface constituting the design may be presented by a stencil cut in a flexible or inflexible material according to the type of apparatus employed. The stencil, which in the case of a continuously acting machine is preferably flexible, may be of metal, woven or felted fabric, paper, card, rubber or a synthetic polymer. In Figure 12 a flexible stencil 50 in the form of an endless band runninground two belt rollers 51 and 52 and a jockey pulley 53 is shown. The stencil 50 is interposed between the material 54 being ornamented and a resilient belt 55, the material 54 being engaged by a roller 56. The flexible stencil 50 may, however, be interposed between the material 54 and the roller 56, as shown in Figure 13, and then may run round a further roller 57, the axis of which may be adjusted towards or away from the roller 56. The thickness of the stencil will naturally depend upon the nature and fullness of the ornamentation required and the material being ornamented, but by way of example it has been found that stencils of thicknesses ranging from 55 to 75 produce pleasing effects on textile fabrics and regenerated cellulose.

A discontinuously acting compressive shrinking apparatus adapted for localized shrinking is shown diagrammatically in Figure 14. In this case the pressure is applied through a metal head plate 60, which is mounted on arms 61 so as to be pivotable about an axis 62. The head plate cooperates with a bed 63 of a resilient deformable material. The bed of resilient material 63 is mounted on two plates 64 which can be caused to separate in the direction of the arrows by pneumatic cylinders 65. The bed 63 carries a design in the form of longitudinal ribs and grooves. In operation the bed 63 is stretched by actuating the cylinders 65. The fabric or other materials is then placed on the bed 63 and the head plate 60 lowered and pressed against the bed by means not shown.

The compressed air in the cylinders 65 is then released,

the bed 63 contracting and causing shrinking of the fabric or other material where the ridges of the bed 63 press it against the smooth metal head plate 60.

It will be readily appreciated that a stencil may be interposed between the material and either the head plate or the bed. In this case the surface of the bed 63 will be smooth.

When ,a textile material is treated in any of the apparatus shown, the side in contact with the metal roller,

head plate or other rigid surface tends to be given a glaze or lustre, whilstthat in contact with the belt or resilient bed has a dull or matt surface.

Although in general the rigid surface of a roller plate .or the like through which the pressure is applied to the duce seersucker effects or ribs, can. be closely controlled" by the amount of localised shrinkage. This mayfor instance be about 2-15 and is determined primarily by the extent to which the deformable flexible member is caused to expandand contract whilst the material is' pressed againstit. The response of the material .to this operation is also influenced by the temperature and especially in the case of hydrophilic materials, bytheir' moisture content.

The degree of shrinkage imparted to the plain region or regions adjacent to the ornamentation of a textile fabric may, if desired, exceed the normal potential shrinkage of any given fabric, for ornamental effect.

When the material being ornamented is a woven or knitted textile fabric a superficial ornamentation can be produced on those regions of the material which have been shrunk to a smooth unrufiled state by pressing a thin flexible material against one side of the smooth regions of the material during the ornamentation.

To be ornamented, the material must behave as a plastic. If the material is hydrophobic, e. g. is. nylon or polyvinyl chloride, it may be rendered more plastic by an organic plasticiser, for example phenol or di-butyl phthalate.

-The ornamentation produced by our invention in some materials, e. g. cotton and acetate rayon fabrics; may be reduced or removed when they are washed or otherwise wetted, unless steps are taken to fix or. retain the ornamentation. This fixing can be effected by treating the material before or after the ornamentation, with a fixing agent which sets under the action of heat, and after the application of this agent, heating the ornamented material. If the material has been pre-treated with the fixing agent, the heating may simply comprise thatapplied during the ornamentation. Alternatively, a reaction product which will retain this ornamentation may be formed in the material by pre-treatment of the material with one reagent and post-treatment of it withanother. Among .the fixing agents which may be. used are products which can condense in situ during processing and. include, interv alia, formaldehyde, the precondensates of formaldehyde with compounds which lead to the formation 'of a' synthetic resin, glyoxal, mono and poly-isocyanates. isothiocyanates and their bi-sulphite compounds or organic adducts,polyvinyl alcohol in conjunction with formaldehyde or methylol compounds or glyoxal, and similar fixing agents. Such' agents are applied to the fabric before final condensation, which may be initiated simultaneously'with the ornamentation or completed. subsequently by any suitable method.

It is known to impregnate a fabric with anaqueous condensation product leading to the formation of a-synthetic' resin, dry and condition the impregnated fabric, subject the latter to the mechanical treatment necessary to give the desired effect, e. g. an embossed effect, and then heat the fabric in order to transform the precondensed resin to the insoluble stage. Such a process can-be used to fix the ornamentation produced by the presentinvention. 3 a

When textile fabrics .are being ornamented by the process of our invention it will be understood that they maybe in any convenient state, e. g. loom stage. prepared state, dyedor containing finishing (including 'fixing) en s-x r Figure 15 illustrates diagrammatically a complete process embodying the method of ornamenting a textile fabric by shrinking in accordance with our invention. In this process a textile fabric 70 coming from the left passes through a bath 71 containing a suitable fixing agent such, as a resin and then passes between a pair of nip rolls..72

\ and thereafter is dried to an appropriate moisture content in ae'drying oven 73. It then passes through a machine 74,1'Siil'll1fil' to that shown in Figures 1 and 2, and then to a baking oven 75 and is finally wound upon a roll 76.

*polyamide fabrics. or polyester fabrics suchas polythe purpose of accentuating the Example; 2

The procedure of Example 1 was followed using, a fabric which had been impregnated withian aqueous solution containing 8 parts trimethylol melamine with 0.1 partof ammonium 'dihydrogen phosphate, and then dried and conditioned. 'After passing through the machine the fabric was heated to cure the resin. The seersucker effect obtained in this'case was resistant to washing.

Thermoplastic textile fabrics, e. g. those made from ethylene terephthalate, when deformed while heated will retain their deformed shape until heated to a higher temperature. When the ornamentation according to our invention is carried out with theaid'of heat, these fabrics will be heated during ornamentation; Accordingly no fixing treatment is necessary for these'fabrics.

Example 3 In the apparatus shown in Figures 1 and 2 the belt 31 was made from the synthetic rubber known as neoprene of hardness 50 Shore. The metal roller 34 was maintained at 200 C. A plain weave fabric composed entirely of fibres of polyethylene terephthalate was passed through the nip of the machine. A seersucker effect was obtained, which was not removed by washing in aqueous soap solution.

Materials may be coloured during the ornamentation and this may be done in two different ways. First, a paste containing colouring matter may be applied to a belt. roller or sheet bearing the design in such a manner that the hollows are filled,the paste being transferred to thematerial during theornamenting process or it may be applied through. astencil. In this simple way an ornamented and coloured material can be produced. Second, advantage can be taken of the capacity of certain' materials, e. g. nylon or polyacrylonitrile fibres, for absorption of certain dyes under the influence of heat.

ment or acid leuco compounds. be applied as suspensions to the material under treatment and when parts of this material come into contact with thehot metal surface, the dye on those parts is absorbed,

the dye on the other parts being absorbed either not Naturally, the hotterthe' at all or to a lesser extent. roller, the greater will be the local absorption.

Example 4 I A plain weave nylon fabric was impregnated with a solution of 1 part of Lacquer Blue 0041 (sold by Imperial Chemical Industries Limited) in 99 parts of dichloro-- ethylene and dried in warm air at C. The fabric was then passed through the nip of the machine of the type shown in Figures 1 and 2, the belt 31 being made of neoprene synthetic rubber. The temperature of the metal roller 34 was 180 C. The intensity of the colouration was increased in those portions of the fabric which were pressed into contact with the hot metal roller and thus a novel two-tone seersucker effect was produced. If desired the undeveloped colour could, be removed by rinsing in dichloro-ethyle'ne.

We.claim:

1.'A process for ornamenting sheet material which does not possess the power of complete elastic recovery, A

and the appearance of? the, adjoining fiat compressed region.

2 A process forornamenting sheet material as. definedin claim. lwherein the:material istreated. to retain the shrinkage and. thereby maintain the ornamental eifect.

3. A process. for ornamenting sheet material as defined in claim 2 in which the treatment of the materialto retain the shrinkage is effected, :at. least in part, duringthe shrinking operation.

4. A process for ornamenting sheet material as defined in claim 2 wherein the treatmentofthe material to retain shrinkage is effected, subsequent to theshrinking operation.

5. A-process for; ornamenting. sheet materialasdefined in claim,1 wherein heat is applied to the material during the shrinking; operation.

6. A process for ornamenting sheet material as defined in claim 1 wherein the compressive shrinking is effected in at least one region extending longitudinally and spaced from the sides of the sheet.

7.. A process for ornamenting sheet'materiaLas; defined in claim 1 wherein the compressiveshrinkingisfifiected. by pressing the flat compressed. region against;.a.c.on-. traoting surface.

8. A process for ornamentingsheetmaterial .asidfined in claim: 7. wherein the sheetzmaterial, is pressed. against a discontinuous contracting surface.

9. A process for ornamenting sheet material :asidefined in claim 7 whereinthe material istheated .l while pressed against the contracting surface.v

10. A process;for ornamentingtslieet:materiall which doesnotpossessthe power of. completeelasti'o recovery, which process comprises alteringthe physical appearance. of thesheetmaterial to provide adjoining regionsvisibly contrasting with. each. other according .to'. a decorative ornamentation pattern, such .alteration'of thelphysicaliappearance: being efiectedbyu subjecting at leastaonensueh; region of the sheet materialto compression in theplane of the sheet to efiectshrinking of such region and induce visible rippling of the sheetimaterial inran adjoining region, and. the. compressed region. further. being. subjected; to, pressure normal to the: plane of; the. sheet to.provide against. inducing.similar-visible rippling in the compressed region, to .thereby. eflect delineation .of the. decorative pats. tern by virtue. of.visual.contrast between the..ph.ysicalzap-..

pearancaof the adjoining rippledmandtflat. compressed;

regions of the. pattern;

11. A process for ornamenting. sheet material as defined in claim 10 wherein the material is treated to retain the d flat compressedregion and thereby maintain ornamentation; 7 l

12; A process: forornarnentiirgsheet material as do fined in claim 11 imwhich the treatment of the-material it to-retain theflat compressedregion iseffected, at-least in part, during the compression-of suoh regioni 13. A- process for ornamenting'sheet;material; as defined in claim 11 wherein the treatment of th'e material to retain the fiat compressed region: is efiected subse- 16. A process. for'wornamentingr sheet material; as; 1161-.

is} applied 'to the material .1

panding.andscontracting, means for. pressing at least one.

regionof. the .sheetwmaterial againstsaid deformable surface and at the same time allowing relative freedom of movement'to adjoining regions .of: said material between said surface-and saidt means, and means for contracting said surfacetdcompressively shrinkthe pressed. region of the material to produce in said adjoining regions a decorative configurationsdeparting from the plane of the material and contrasting; withthe relatively fiatsurface of the pressedaregion.v

20. Apparatus for-ornamenting sheet material as defined in claim l9 wherein.heating. elements are arranged to heatimaterial.pressedxagainst the deformable surface.

21. Apparatus for ornamenting sheet material. asdefined inclaim: l9swhereintthesurface of deformable material is discontinuous.

22. Apparatus for ornamenting: sheet material as defined in. claim; 19 wherein. the deformable surface is formed a: with a longitudinal grooves.

23; Apparatus: for: ornamenting sheet: material as defined in claim-119rwhereinthematerialis pressed against the deformablersurface'by. a stencil.

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